Here's Where I get to Show off my Work!
This purpose of this page is to represent the work that I have done for my masters program through Michigan State University. The examples are broken into two collections: 1- Technology with French and 2- Individual and Collaborative Work. Both show how much I have learned and grown throughout my program as well as how I have incorporated technology into my classroom.
Collection #1 : Technology with French
As a foreign language teacher, my friends thought I was a bit "off my rocker" to want to complete my masters in Educational Technology; they did not see how technology can relate to the foreign language classroom. I told them to just wait and see; so here is my collection of work for my French classrooms that uses technology. In my opinion, technology is not just something that you throw in to your unit; it must be incorporated in a way that makes it meaningful to that particular unit. The following examples are ones where the inclusion of technology made the assignment as powerful as it is.
French Regions WebQuest Weebly PageI created a webpage where my students were able to complete a multi-step project from just following the steps and directions that I gave on my webpage.
For my WebQuest, I made this Weebly for my students to learn more about the French regions. Each student worked in a small group or in pairs. They chose a region, were given a budget, completed research, and planned a trip to that region. They used resources from my webpage to help guide them in this lengthy process and they organized their work on Google Docs so that they were always accessible to group members, even when someone was sick. This assignment was a cross-curricular unit where the students needed to use math and French to complete the project. I made this webpage as an assignment for my CEP 811 class; it was called my STAIR project. The biggest lesson I took out of this assignment was that I cannot just assume that students know as much about programs and organization as I do. I had to take many steps backwards and make "how-to" lessons for using Google Spreadsheets, for organizing a budget, etc. It was a great experience, and I can't wait to do it again. |
Dream it! Project - CEP 800
I got to ask myself "What is my dream for my classroom?" The goal was to incorporate technology into my content and pedagogy for the up-coming 2013-14 school year. I chose to focus on my IB1 French classroom, since I felt that this particular class needed the most help. So I thought about what the students needed, and I decided that I wanted to find a way to give each of them a voice in the classroom. Some students feel too intimated to speak in a foreign language, even though they have been studying it for two years. What I found in my research was that I could have students write blogs, post to discussion forums on my Moodle page, or do Moodle chats. I imagine having my students use Moodle chats to also make one BIG vocabulary list where they can all share and use the words to spark a discussion or aid in a writing prompt.
This project was the culminating individual project for the MAET 2013 summer cohort which consisted of CEP 800, 815, and 822.
IB Culture Hybrid Unit - CEP 820
Select "log-in as a guest" and the password is "madame"
When I was first introduced to the idea of making an online course, I was very worried. I knew that it would take a lot of effort and a lot of time. I was afraid to start, because of how daunting the task seemed. But, once I got started, it just flew by! Each week, we were given tasks and readings that helped guide my decisions in my creation process. I started with a unit that I had done in the past with my ninth graders. But, because I wanted to make it so complex, and because I could only find advanced resources for my students, I ended up changing it to an eleventh grade unit. Once I did this, I found even more advanced resources and came up with more difficult tasks such as taking the idea of how the famous francophone speakers influenced France, and having my students come up with their own “wishlist” for changing their way of life. I know that the eleventh graders are more capable of doing this assignment; I know that I could push them more to think individually and creatively.
Some of the most important things that I kept in mind when creating my hybrid (online and in-class) unit:
1. My students have been taught to be creative; so I needed to keep testing their creativity and give them a chance to express themselves without too many rules or limitations for their “creations.” Students tend to question themselves at first when given open-ended assignments, but they normally will flourish in the end when shown how to be creative. It is important that we give them as many of these opportunities as possible.
2. The most important thing for any teacher to do when making any unit is to stay organized. I found that I would start to create something, and then realized that I didn’t have that as a listed assignment on the unit outline. So I had to go back and add it to my unit outline (Google Doc) after I had added the assignment on my Moodle page. It was a little frustrating at times, but it kept me double-checking myself so that I would not overload the students with too much stuff in one unit or in one class period.
3. When making an online course (even if it’s a hybrid one), don’t forget to give the students a voice. I tried to incorporate several ways for my students to participate or share: discussion forums, group chats, upload/submit individual feedback or essays (without allowing their peers to see), etc. I think that the variety will help those students who may not feel comfortable posting their ideas for all of their classmates to see as well as those students who only feel accomplished if their peers think that they are smart. I tried to balance the modes of communication for all of my students.
4. When making any unit, don’t forget that your students will guide you through the unit. If something comes up and you want to change it, then do so. Don’t think that you have to stick to what you’ve done/created just because you spent the time on it. If your students want to take the assignment in a new direction, maybe you can take the extra day or two and let them. This is seen in my Moodle Quiz. Yes, there are certain questions that I expect them to be able to answer about the history of France; but I am not going to limit them and their research to what may be seen as the “boring” facts. I want the students to learn and guide the lesson so that it is interesting to them.
When I was first introduced to the idea of making an online course, I was very worried. I knew that it would take a lot of effort and a lot of time. I was afraid to start, because of how daunting the task seemed. But, once I got started, it just flew by! Each week, we were given tasks and readings that helped guide my decisions in my creation process. I started with a unit that I had done in the past with my ninth graders. But, because I wanted to make it so complex, and because I could only find advanced resources for my students, I ended up changing it to an eleventh grade unit. Once I did this, I found even more advanced resources and came up with more difficult tasks such as taking the idea of how the famous francophone speakers influenced France, and having my students come up with their own “wishlist” for changing their way of life. I know that the eleventh graders are more capable of doing this assignment; I know that I could push them more to think individually and creatively.
Some of the most important things that I kept in mind when creating my hybrid (online and in-class) unit:
1. My students have been taught to be creative; so I needed to keep testing their creativity and give them a chance to express themselves without too many rules or limitations for their “creations.” Students tend to question themselves at first when given open-ended assignments, but they normally will flourish in the end when shown how to be creative. It is important that we give them as many of these opportunities as possible.
2. The most important thing for any teacher to do when making any unit is to stay organized. I found that I would start to create something, and then realized that I didn’t have that as a listed assignment on the unit outline. So I had to go back and add it to my unit outline (Google Doc) after I had added the assignment on my Moodle page. It was a little frustrating at times, but it kept me double-checking myself so that I would not overload the students with too much stuff in one unit or in one class period.
3. When making an online course (even if it’s a hybrid one), don’t forget to give the students a voice. I tried to incorporate several ways for my students to participate or share: discussion forums, group chats, upload/submit individual feedback or essays (without allowing their peers to see), etc. I think that the variety will help those students who may not feel comfortable posting their ideas for all of their classmates to see as well as those students who only feel accomplished if their peers think that they are smart. I tried to balance the modes of communication for all of my students.
4. When making any unit, don’t forget that your students will guide you through the unit. If something comes up and you want to change it, then do so. Don’t think that you have to stick to what you’ve done/created just because you spent the time on it. If your students want to take the assignment in a new direction, maybe you can take the extra day or two and let them. This is seen in my Moodle Quiz. Yes, there are certain questions that I expect them to be able to answer about the history of France; but I am not going to limit them and their research to what may be seen as the “boring” facts. I want the students to learn and guide the lesson so that it is interesting to them.
Collection #2 : Individual and Collaborative Work
The reason that I have targeted these particular pieces of work is to show my ability to work individually and with partners. As a teacher, it is extremely important to be able to work collectively and to collaborate on projects. Though all of the above examples are pieces of my individual work, I wanted to really show how well I work with others and what I learned from working in groups.
Collaborative/Individual: Tension Photo - CEP 815
After discussing the article "Feeling the Tug? Managing the Tensions that Pull Leaders in Different Directions." by T. Paulson, I chose a tension to focus on for my photo. The one I chose was being "Collaborative vs. Selfish" in the work place. This represents teachers and how sometimes they will work well with others, and sometimes they will not work at all with others.
The way that I went about completing this assignment is a great example of how to collaborate. Even though my summer cohort group were the ones who actually took the pictures of me, I was the one who uploaded these images to Pixlr and who edited them into one picture. Being in a group or working with a team does not always mean that you have to do everything together, but it means that you should get input from each member as well as each have an individual job. Though I was the one who edited, we were all editing at the same time and we able to help each other utilise certain features of the editing program.
The way that I went about completing this assignment is a great example of how to collaborate. Even though my summer cohort group were the ones who actually took the pictures of me, I was the one who uploaded these images to Pixlr and who edited them into one picture. Being in a group or working with a team does not always mean that you have to do everything together, but it means that you should get input from each member as well as each have an individual job. Though I was the one who edited, we were all editing at the same time and we able to help each other utilise certain features of the editing program.
Individual : My Blog page.
Collaborative: Understanding Understanding Project
My 2013 summer cohort group, Theory of Second Best, consisted of Corbin Brown, David Raft, and Katlyn Witt. For our Understanding Understanding project, we were asked to think about the our theories of learning and development to understanding the role of technology in learning and instruction.
So we thought: Gravity, it brings us down. But do people really know what gravity is and where it is? Is gravity everywhere and does it play an influence on everything? We set out to discover what people understood about gravity, thus discovering how people understand concepts. The most shocking thing that I learned in doing this was that our background knowledge influences what we learn (or don't learn) more than I originally had thought. It was an eye-opening experience that I think every educator should have. It is also an important concept that every educator should know and should keep in mind. It was one of my favorite assignments done during the program.
So we thought: Gravity, it brings us down. But do people really know what gravity is and where it is? Is gravity everywhere and does it play an influence on everything? We set out to discover what people understood about gravity, thus discovering how people understand concepts. The most shocking thing that I learned in doing this was that our background knowledge influences what we learn (or don't learn) more than I originally had thought. It was an eye-opening experience that I think every educator should have. It is also an important concept that every educator should know and should keep in mind. It was one of my favorite assignments done during the program.
Collaborative: Chapter Reviews
With my summer cohort group, I helped create a review of Chapter 1 and Chapter 6 from the book "Why Don't Students Like School?" by Daniel T. Willingham. I did the drawing as someone videotaped over my shoulder. Then we each did a voice-over as we read through what we had agreed were the main points of the chapters. Afterwards, I helped Katlyn Witt in editing the video a little, though she did the majority of the editing. It was really cool to see how the pieces all came together and how easy the process was, when you are given the time to make a video.
It made me think about how I could give my students the opportunity to do something so creative and fun in my classroom. I am planning to have my students reenact scenes from the novel that we read in IB1 French. They would look in their book and think about how they could summarize it, maybe using some of the exact dialogue pieces or writing their own. Obviously, they would get time in class to complete this assignment and would have some guidance on how to record and edit videos. I believe that my students would really enjoy this. As for how they would work in teams, I would have my students split up the work in advance, as my group had done with making this video: who is in charge of writing the script? who will do the videotaping? acting? editing? voice-over (if necessary)? etc. |
Individual: Introduction Video to IB French Language Culture History & Famous Francophone Unit
I made this video so that my students would have an idea of what is on my Moodle page so they can familiarize themselves with where to find different assignments, explanations, requirements, etc. for the History and Famous Francophone Unit. I made this introduction using Camtasia Studio, which I got for free as a participant in the 2013 summer cohort.
Each time I make a video using Camtasia, I am reminded how important it is to write out a script for your audio, unless you plan on doing a voice-over. In my opinion, it is best to be organized before you start so then the video will go more smoothly and editing will be minor. I learned a lot of my video recording and editing tips from my summer cohort group, since we made so many videos together. But, making videos individually is always more challenging since you have no one who will give you ideas. Normally, I end up showing my videos to colleague so I can get feedback, and then I edit them.
Each time I make a video using Camtasia, I am reminded how important it is to write out a script for your audio, unless you plan on doing a voice-over. In my opinion, it is best to be organized before you start so then the video will go more smoothly and editing will be minor. I learned a lot of my video recording and editing tips from my summer cohort group, since we made so many videos together. But, making videos individually is always more challenging since you have no one who will give you ideas. Normally, I end up showing my videos to colleague so I can get feedback, and then I edit them.
"Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating...too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life."
— John Wooden (Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court)
John Wooden. Retrieved Mar. 28, 2014, from GoodReads.com. Retrieved from: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/419717-being-a-role-model-is-the-most-powerful-form-of